Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from any of the words I command you today, and do not go after other gods to serve them.
The blessings are here put before the curses, to intimate, 1. That God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy: he has said it, and sworn, that he would much rather we would obey and live than sin and die. It is his delight to bless. 2.
Commenting on Deuteronomy 28:1-14
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God,.... As directed, exhorted, and encouraged to, Deu 28:1, &c. to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day; both moral and ceremonial: that all these curses shall come upon thee; from the hand of God, certainly, suddenly, and unawares...
Deu 28:13-14 By such blessings He would “make Israel the head, and not the tail,” - a figure taken from life (vid., Isa 9:13), the meaning of which is obvious, and is given literally in the next sentence, “thou wilt be above only, and not beneath,” i.e., thou wilt rise more and more, and increase in wealth, power, and dignity.
Commenting on Deuteronomy 28:13-14